1. Field of the Invention
Applicant's invention relates to game and recreational devices involving balls, golf clubs, and/or billiard table-like playing platforms.
2. Background Information
The amateur game and recreational equipment field is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Games which involve multiple parties, are suitable for players of widely ranging age, agility, and sports skill enjoy particularly prolonged favor with the public. Croquet provides a classic example of one such game. Nevertheless, there seems to always be room for new additions to the group of games which are susceptible to wide appeal.
Particularly in light of today's heightened interest in certain sectors in fostering and preserving high-quality family environments, particularly for children, games which families can and are likely to play together in their yards or at nearby parks are particularly welcome additions to our marketplace. Especially if a new family game is one which involves active, physical involvement, rather than purely passive, verbal play, such games provide a welcome alternative to video games which tend to haunt many parents who are concerned about their childrens' development into introverted, passive "couch potatoes."
Another "virtue" of a desirable new family game is that of involving familiar and/or easily acquired skills. For example, a game which involves the rules, equipment, and/or physical action of previously-existing game(s), yet represents an improvement over those games in some respect, is one which is more likely to be tried, as compared with a game which involves complicated rules and/or difficult physical maneuvers.